Picnic With the Pops to swing Downtown

A long-term agreement to move the Columbus Symphony's Picnic With the Pops series Downtown could be signed as early as today, people close to the negotiations said.

Jeffrey Sheban, The Columbus Dispatch

A long-term agreement to move the Columbus Symphony’s Picnic With the Pops series Downtown could be signed as early as today, people close to the negotiations said.

Under the five-year deal, the symphony would present its popular outdoor summer concerts next year at Columbus Commons, ending a 28-year run on the Northwest Side lawn of Chemical Abstracts Service.

Plans for 2012 call for the symphony to perform 11 evening concerts at the commons, a 9-acre park that opened in May on the site of the former Columbus City Center mall.

A major draw would be a $5 million permanent stage and pavilion — including two large projection screens — expected to be constructed at the north end of the park, which is owned and managed by Capitol South Community Urban Redevelopment Corp.

“Barring the world coming to an end, we’re going Downtown,” said Martin Inglis, chairman of the symphony board.

As of late yesterday, he said, an agreement between the orchestra and Capitol South had been reached but not signed.

The move to the commons — encouraged by Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman — has been talked about for months but was called into question in June when Bill Conner, who as president and CEO of the Columbus Association for the Performing Arts also runs the symphony, said the relocation was under review.

“It’s no longer certain,” Conner told The Dispatch after CAPA lost its exclusive status to schedule programming at the commons. “ (The move) is something to talk about.”

CAPA, which owns the Ohio and other Downtown theaters, assumed operational control of the symphony last year.

Despite Conner’s comments, sources said the symphony board never lost interest in the move.

Nor did city and Franklin County officials, who pledged a combined $1?million to help the symphony through a financial crisis two years ago.

“I think the mayor’s pleased with the move,” Coleman spokesman Dan Williamson said. “The mayor wouldn’t have supported Picnic With the Pops being in Columbus Commons if it wasn’t the best place for it.”

Inglis said the move Downtown wasn’t payback for the public money.

“Collectively, the community is trying to improve Downtown,” he said, “and the symphony wants to be part of that.”

Barbara Fergus, an arts patron and a former symphony board member, said the new location might benefit the central city more than the symphony.

“When major moves are taken,” she said, “there’s never any guarantee that there’s immediate success.”

Concerns about the new location include the lack of free parking and the reluctance of some patrons and volunteers to travel Downtown.

“I love it where it is, and I may not love it where it’s going,” said symphony patron Jim Mitchell, 73, of the Far North Side.

Musicians, meanwhile, are hoping for the best.

“We need to get the support of the city leadership if we’re going to move forward,” said Douglas J. Fisher, a bassoonist and president of the musicians union. “It will be nice to have a state-of-the-art facility to perform in, and many young people have been moving Downtown.

“There’s always risk involved (in a new venue), but sometimes we have to take some risks to try and preserve our art form.”

Principal bassoonist Betsy Sturdevant applauded the announcement.

“I perceive this as a positive for us,” she said. “I think it’s an honor that the city thinks of us as so vital to the redevelopment of Downtown.”

The final Picnic With the Pops concerts at Chemical Abstracts — featuring the symphony and the Ohio State University Marching Band — will take place tonight and Saturday.

In a statement yesterday, Chemical Abstracts President Robert J. Massie said the organization has been proud to host the series for nearly three decades.

“We wish the symphony all the best in their new Downtown location.”

jsheban@dispatch.com

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